Worst Pick
by Rozz
Summary: A bad date one night leads to some confessions. Nick/Sara Friendship. GSR.


She had no idea how she ended up here. Sitting for the third time, at a table with some guy. Somehow he had gotten her to agree AGAIN to go out with him. And then he started to talk about spanking. This was not what Sara wanted to do on her day off, and how the hell had the guy gotten his one sided conversation to the topic of spanking.

God she had the worst taste in guys.

So she leaned over and whispered, a little too loud, as the tables around them could hear, "Yeah, I just can't wait to get home so you can smack me around. Excuse me."

She walked straight out the restaurant and left him in a circle of women and their dates glaring angrily at him.

But she hadn't shaken him off her tail, as he materialized at her side while she was waiting by the elevator.

"Look, I am so sorry for what I said. If we could just try again, forget this ever happened?"

Sara took a deep breath as the elevator dinged.

"No. You need to take a step back. I'm getting on this elevator, and you are not. You will not call me or talk to me. Bye." Sara gave a half wave before the doors closed and she collapsed against the side.

She did straighten up before the door opened again though. Nick Stokes stood in front of her.

"Hey, Sar. What's up?"

"Nothing. Bad date. What are you doing here?"

"I got a breaking and entering on the third floor jewelry shop."

"Oh. You want some help? I was going to come in anyway."

He shrugged, "Sure, but you gotta call Grissom if you want the over time."

"Yeah, I don't really care about over time."

He smirked at her as the elevator went up. They did stop at the second story, though. And there was Sara's date, waiting for the next elevator.

"Oh, we're going up."

He smiled at Nick and then at Sara, "That's okay, I don't mind."

Sara smirked at him, "Yes you do."

He frowned and stepped back, "Yes, I do. I will wait for the next one, thank you."

Nick raised an eyebrow at her as she pressed the close door button over and over.

"That's not gonna make it go faster, darlin'."

The doors closed, "Was that him?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, now, he didn't look that bad."

"You weren't there. I mean, who the hell talks about spanking on the third date?"

Nick winced, "Well, some men don't have class."

"Expecially the ones I pick," Sara mumbled. The doors opened and then headed around the third story of the mall looking for the jewelry shop.

"Oh, now, it can't be that bad."

"Come on, Nick. Have you not heard about my previous boy toys? Ray Matthews, Hank Peddigrew, Ken Fuller, Dean Gaines. It just doesn't end."

Sara wasn't usually one to run her mouth like this, but she had had such a long day so far.

"Really, you have that many boyfriends?"

"More, actually, but I don't really want to get into it."

"Uh-huh. I don't think so. You don't get to put out the hit list without giving me some reasons, lets go," Nick was liking this open Sara.

They were gloved and looking around the place by this point.

"Well, where to start. This is going to make me depressed. Ray Matthews actually cheated on me, and gave me another girl's panties."

Nick cringed.

"Hank Peddigrew you know about. Ken Fuller, joined the Mile High Club with him, and it ended up to be a bet on whether girls are better in bed or in the air. I was not his first round. Dean Gaines I actually got a little serious with, but he hid me from his mother in his closet because she would be upset that I did not have relatives. It just keeps going. Cheaters, liars, non-reciprocators. I don't know when its going to end," She was just blowing steam at this point.

"Sara, I would never cheat on you, or lie to you, or hide you from my mother," Nick joked with her on the last one.

"Oh, Nick, if only I could fall for a guy like you," She swooned.

Nick waited a tick, "Do you not have relatives? I mean, I know you work the holidays, but I thought you weren't close or they lived far away or something."

"I am the last know line of my family, Nick," Sara said sadly, "At least that I know of. I think my brother's still out there."

"Really? A brother?"

She glared up at him from where she was kneeling, "Nick, I am in a very trusting mood today. I will let you take advantage of that, but only later after you have bought me some coffee."

Nick nodded, "On to my game, huh? Okay, we will get some coffee on the way back to the lab. And I would like to hear more about our ellusive Sara Sidle."

Sara nodded and they continued their collection.

When they had gotten their coffee and back to the lab, but Sara begged off under the surmise of finishing the case first. Her generous sharing mood was over when they stepped inside the building. On a walk around the building, Sara and Nick ran into Grissom.

"Sara, I thought it was your night off?"

"It was, and I decided to spend my night here."

"Okay, so you're helping Nick?"

"Yep, should be done in this shift."

"Good."

They split up. An hour later and they found the guy in a pawn shop right around the corner from the mall. Some people were just that stupid.

Nick and Sara found themselves in the break room with some coffee.

"Okay, Sara, time to spill," Nick smiled, "I bought you coffee, we finished our case."

Sara smirked at him.

"Come on, now, you tell me yours and I'll tell you mine." He offered.

"Tell you what?" Grissom asked as he stepped in the room, going over to the coffee maker.

"About her family. She promised," Nick gave her a puppy dog look.

Grissom stopped and turned around, "Sara?"

"I did promise him," She shrugged.

"If you're sure..."

"Wait, you know about her family?"

"He knows," Sara answered for him.

"Well, I'm going to go, then," Grissom said, looking for Sara's reaction.

Sara watched him walk down the hall. And turned to Nick.

"I don't have any family, Nick. I don't know if you know this, but I grew up in foster care since the age of eight."

Nick sucked in a breathe, "No," he whispered softly. His eyes already held sadness and concern for her.

"Yeah. My father is dead. And last I heard, my mother was in an... instituion." She couldn't bring herself to say mental hospital.

"My brother was older than me, and was only in the system for a year before he could slip away. I think he might have gotten out sooner though. Through the cracks. I don't know where he is. If he's alive. If he changed his name. I wasn't really that close to him before we got split up though. He was not home a lot of the time. I think he dealt drugs for a little while.

"And that's my family."

Nick took a breath. He never knew any of this. It explained some.

"So, why did your family break up?"

"Um..." She looked out the door around the hallways. Looking for something, someone, a distraction. He could tell she was a little agitated and looking for a way out.

He was a nice guy. He pretended his phone wrang.

"Hey, there," He said in a Texan accent. He covered the phone, "I gotta take this, sorry, darlin." He began fake talking to someone and left the room. Not a minute later Grissom entered the room.

"So... You told him?"

She smirked, "The reader's digest version. He let me off the hook before I went cover story."

"Oh."

"Do you think I was right in telling him? Can I get your opinion?"

He paused, "I think you can trust Nick."

She smirked. Of course he didn't give a straight answer.

"Okay."

He left the room after stalling a bit. Sara looked at her watch. It was ten minutes until shift ended. She decided to start to get ready to leave. She wasn't going to wait around here.

When she entered the locker room, she found Nicky already getting ready, tieing his boots.

"Hey Nick. Smooth get away. Nice fake phone call."

"Hey, now," He smiled at her.

"Come on Nick, I've had to use the fake call before. But in my cases it was for me to get away, not to give the other person a break."

He smiled at her, "Come on Sar. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

There was some silence as Sara opened her locker and got her coat.

"My mother was an abuse victim," She blurted into the silence, "And then she was a murderer. That's why my father is dead. That's why she was incarcerated. In a way, it was a sort of good thing. It would have only gotten worse. I wouldn't have been here right now."

Nick looked up at her, "Sara, I had no idea-"

"I know. I made sure of that. But, nobody else does know. So..."

"My lips are sealed, darling."

She smiled at him, "Thanks," she said softly. She donned her jacket. Before she left Nick stepped up and gave her a rather awkward hug.

Before she left she found herself leaning in Grissom's doorstep.

As she watched him slowly work, she whispered under her breath, "Why can't I be in love with Nick?"

Grissom's head came up and for a second she thought he heard her.

"Sara. Are you leaving for the night?"

She nodded, "Yeah...and I told Nick the whole story."

He nodded, "Okay."

"I just hope that he doesn't treat me differently now."

Grissom nodded, "I don't think he will. Nick is a gentleman."

She nodded, still in the doorway. When she turned to leave, Grissom called her name.

Turning, she answered, "Yeah?"

He took his glasses of slowly. Sara could easily see the thought wheels turning in his head.

"Sara...'I wasted time, and now doth time waste me'?"

"Richard II."

They looked at each other.

"I honestly don't know what you're trying to say, Grissom."

"Just... 'Things sweet to taste [can] prove in digest sour'."

She gave him a pathetic smile. Stepping inside an inch, she closed the door behind her, but kept her back against it.

Taking a breath she tried to think about things, "Grissom, you're going to have to use your own words here. I'm tired of trying to decode the puzzle. You say one thing and then another that contradicts you, and then you pay attention to me and ignore me for a week."

"Sara."

"No. Stop, Grissom."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Opening the door, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and walked down the hall. When she pulled into her parking space after doing some food shopping after shift, who else was parked next to her except Gil Grissom. He helped her with some of the food bags without a word.

Once they were inside her apartment, she started putting things away while Grissom stood by awkwardly.

"Grissom, you want to tell me why you're here?" She asked without pausing.

When he didn't answer she looked over her shoulder. He was in the corner of her room, looking at the book shelf.

She grabbed two bottles of water and tapped Grissom on the shoulder, handing him one.

"So? What's up. I'm not expecting this to be about work, because you would have gotten to the point already if it was," as she spoke she toyed with the corner of her desk.

"Sara, I'm sorry that I'm so complicated. I don't mean to be."

She smiled softly at her fingers.

"It's just...you enthrall me Sara. I can't compose my thoughts around you like I can around other people. I would have said something at the lab before you left, but it would not have been appropriate there. I've gone over things a thousand times in my head, but things never seem to go right with you."

She was smirking now. Once she met his eyes, she whispered, "You're cute when you stammer."

His head tilted with eyebrows raised.

"I know that I can be...difficult also."

He nodded slightly. One of his hands grabbed hers to stop it from tapping on the desk corner.

"It's taken me a long time to get here Sara."

Her smile was appreciative.

Slowly, he inched forward until their lips were an inch apart.

"I'm glad you're not in love with Nick."

She let out a wide smile and little laugh as their lips came together. 


End file.
